HMRC Pauses New MTD Software Approvals: What the Frozen 2026-27 Shelf Actually Offers
HMRC has paused new production access requests for 2026-27 quarterly update software and is designing a controlled access model. We graded the 127 products already on the list, and 70% cannot complete a single tax-return item.
- On 10 August 2026 HMRC told software developers it is pausing new production access requests for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, and is no longer accepting them for new 2026-27 quarterly update products.
- The trigger was the first 2026-27 quarterly update deadline on 7 August. HMRC says the market window for new 2026-27 quarterly update products has now closed.
- The pause applies to new requests. HMRC has said requests submitted before 7 August, and existing products needing future API versions, continue through the current process, so the list can still grow a little as that pipeline drains.
- That makes the current list close to the field you will choose from this tax year. On our 9 August 2026 snapshot it holds 127 products, and 89 of them (70%) cannot complete a single one of the 16 tax-return items HMRC grades.
- HMRC intends to replace open API subscription with a controlled access model, and has promised a further update covering end-of-year software and future tax years by the end of September 2026.
The list of software you can use to file Making Tax Digital for Income Tax has effectively stopped growing, and HMRC has said so out loud.
On 10 August 2026, HMRC's Software Developer Support Team circulated a notice to developers building on the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax APIs. It does two things at once. It closes the door on new quarterly update products for the 2026-27 tax year, and it announces that HMRC is rethinking how software gets into the ecosystem at all.
For a sole trader or landlord picking software right now, that turns a moving target into something much closer to a fixed one. So the obvious question is what is actually on the shelf that has just been frozen. We have the dataset for that: we scrape HMRC's full software directory and grade every product against every axis HMRC publishes. The answer is not flattering.
What did HMRC announce on 10 August 2026?
Three things, in plain English.
The window for new 2026-27 quarterly update products has closed. HMRC's reasoning is procedural rather than political. The first quarterly update deadline for the 2026-27 tax year fell on 7 August 2026, so a product that is not approved by now cannot realistically serve a customer through this year's quarterly cycle.
"As the MTD ITSA first quarterly update deadline for tax year 2026-27 passed on 7 August 2026, the market window for new 2026-27 quarterly update products has now closed."
New production access requests are paused while HMRC reviews the entry route. This is the bigger item. Getting a product onto the directory means getting production access to HMRC's live APIs, and HMRC has stopped taking new requests while it reviews how software enters the ecosystem in the first place.
"HMRC is taking this opportunity to review how new software products enter the ecosystem ... While this review is underway, HMRC is pausing new production access requests."
Subscribing to the APIs is no longer a route in. Any developer can still subscribe to the MTD for Income Tax APIs in HMRC's sandbox, which is how you build and test. HMRC has now made explicit that this is not a path to going live, and that it intends to close the gap deliberately, saying it plans "to introduce a controlled access model, to prevent open access subscription".
Read together, that is HMRC moving from an open door with a check at the end to a gate at the front.
Does this mean the software list is final?
No, and this is the part worth being precise about, because "HMRC freezes MTD software list" is an easy headline to overstate.
The pause applies to new requests. HMRC's own carve-out is explicit that work already in flight carries on:
"If you submitted a production access request before 7 August, or you already have access, you do not need to contact us. Requests submitted before this date and existing products requiring access to future API versions will continue to be supported through the current process."
So there is a pipeline still draining. Products whose applications went in before 7 August can still complete the current process and appear on the directory in the coming weeks and months, and vendors already listed can keep moving forward onto newer API versions. What has stopped is anyone joining the queue from today.
The practical reading for someone choosing software: treat the current list as close to the full field for this tax year, expect it to grow slowly rather than not at all, and do not expect a wave of new options to arrive and rescue you if nothing on it fits.
What does the frozen list actually offer?
This is where our own data comes in. HMRC's "find software that works with Making Tax Digital for Income Tax" service is a wizard rather than a table, so you cannot see the whole field at once. We scraped it in full on 9 August 2026, one day before the pause was announced, and graded every product on every attribute HMRC publishes: the eight software features, the three income sources, and the 16 individual tax-return items marked "Ready now", "In development" or "Not included".
127products listed on HMRC’s MTD for Income Tax directoryHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 9 August 2026HMRC lists what each vendor declares. Feature flags, mobile-app support in particular, are vendor claims rather than verified facts, and listings change. Check with the vendor before you buy. Data: HMRC find-MTD-software service (tax.service.gov.uk), scraped 9 August 2026.
Here is the finding that matters most now that the field is fixed.
89of 127 (70%)cannot complete a single tax-return itemHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 9 August 2026Those products can take your income and expenses and send HMRC a quarterly update. When you reach the end of the tax year and have to bring in your employment income, bank interest, dividends, pension contributions, student loan plan and everything else that makes up a tax return, they have nothing for you. HMRC's directory grades every one of those items "Not included".
The top of the market is correspondingly thin.
3of 127 (2%)have all 16 return items readyHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 9 August 2026Those three are MTD Companion for macOS, MTD Companion for iPhone and iPad, and MTD 4 Income Tax. A wider group of 27 products have nine or more of the 16 items ready. Almost everything else sits at zero. There is very little middle ground between "files your quarters" and "can finish your return".
The other axes narrow the field further, and they narrow it in ways that map onto real people:
63of 127 (50%)can handle foreign property incomeHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 9 August 2026Sole trader income is ready in 114 products and UK property in 111, so foreign property is where most of the market stops. Only 59 products cover all three income sources. Partnership income is the sharpest cut of all: 5 products across the entire directory can complete it.
Cost and convenience are similarly lopsided. 31 of 127 (24%) list a free version, and 56 of 127 (44%) list a mobile app at all, of which 49 are on both iOS and Android. Free and web-only, or mobile and paid, is a fair summary of the field as of the 9 August 2026 snapshot.
And a large share of what is listed is a promise rather than a shipped feature.
98of 127 (77%)carry at least one 'in development' promise on a tax-return itemHMRC MTD for Income Tax directory, scraped 9 August 2026HMRC's framing is that "in development" means the vendor has committed to having the feature ready for the 2026-27 return. That is a genuine commitment, not marketing. But it is a commitment, and with the market now closed to newcomers, it is also the main way the shelf can still improve this year: not through new products arriving, but through listed products shipping what they have promised. If an item you need says "in development", ask the vendor for a date in writing before you commit.
You can filter the whole dataset yourself on our MTD software directory, and our full analysis of all 127 listed tools goes through the pricing, the free tiers and the catches product by product.
| Product | Free | Sole trader | UK property | Foreign property | Mobile app | Return items |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MTD 4 Income Tax | Not included | Ready now | Ready now | Ready now | Android; Apple iOS | 16/16 |
| MTD Companion for iPhone & iPad | Not included | Ready now | Ready now | Ready now | Apple iOS | 16/16 |
| MTD Companion for macOS | Not included | Ready now | Ready now | Ready now | Not listed | 16/16 |
| AbraTax MTD for Income Tax | Not included | Ready now | Ready now | Ready now | Not listed | 15/16 |
| Abridge (MTD for Excel/Sheets) | Ready now | Ready now | Ready now | Ready now | Android; Apple iOS | 15/16 |
| Clear Books | Not included | Ready now | Ready now | Not included | Android; Apple iOS | 15/16 |
| Clear Books Free | Ready now | Ready now | Ready now | Not included | Android; Apple iOS | 15/16 |
| Forbes MTD | Not included | Ready now | Ready now | Ready now | Android | 15/16 |
| FreeAgent | Ready now | Ready now | Ready now | Not included | Android; Apple iOS | 15/16 |
| Kletta | Not included | Ready now | Ready now | Ready now | Android; Apple iOS | 15/16 |
| My Tax Digital (Free) | Ready now | Ready now | Ready now | Ready now | Not listed | 15/16 |
| QuickBooks (Intuit) | Not included | Ready now | Ready now | Not included | Android; Apple iOS | 15/16 |
Who made it through the closing door?
The last few days before the deadline are visible in the data, because we happened to scrape the directory twice.
On 5 August 2026 it held 122 products. On 9 August it held 127. Five products appeared in those four days, two days before the window closed: KinderStart's childminding app, ApariSolo, HyperTax, Clients Assistant and Simple Tax Flow.
They are worth looking at closely, because they are the last arrivals on a list that has now stopped taking them. As of the 9 August 2026 snapshot:
| Product | Return items ready | In development | Free version | Income sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ApariSolo | 3 of 16 | 13 | No | Sole trader, UK and foreign property |
| Simple Tax Flow | 4 of 16 | 7 | No | Sole trader, UK property |
| Clients Assistant | 0 of 16 | 16 | No | Sole trader, UK and foreign property |
| HyperTax | 0 of 16 | 16 | No | Sole trader, UK and foreign property |
| KinderStart: Childminding App | 0 of 16 | 0 | No | Sole trader only |
Three of the five cannot complete a single return item today. Between them the five carry 52 return items marked "in development" and seven marked ready. All five are browser-based, and none lists a free version.
That is not a criticism of any of them. Clients Assistant and HyperTax have committed to all 16 items for the 2026-27 return, which is more ambition than most of the directory shows. It is an illustration of what "the market window has closed" actually froze: a field where a meaningful part of the promised capability has not shipped yet, and where the newest entrants are the furthest from delivering it.
What does the pause mean if you are choosing software now?
Four practical consequences.
Choose from what exists, not from what might exist. Before 10 August, "wait and see what launches" was a defensible plan. It is much weaker now. The realistic sources of improvement this tax year are listed vendors shipping their "in development" items and the pre-7-August application pipeline finishing, not a fresh wave of products.
Check the year-end, not just the quarters. With 89 of 127 products unable to complete any return item, the single most likely way to get stuck is to pick a tool that handles your quarterly updates beautifully and cannot file your final declaration. That may still be a reasonable choice, but make it deliberately and know what the second tool will be. We have written separately about whether you need more than one MTD product.
Switching costs are now real. In a market where new entrants can appear at any time, a bad pick is a temporary problem. In a frozen one, it is your year. It is worth spending an evening on the directory rather than picking the first result of a search.
Do not read a directory listing as a quality rating. Everything on the list has passed HMRC's technical process, and the grades are vendor-declared. HMRC publishes what each vendor says about its own product. We found rows that argue with the vendor's own website in both directions, so treat any single flag as a claim to check rather than a fact.
If you want a shortlist rather than a dataset, our comparison pages start from the way people actually choose: the genuinely free MTD options, the best MTD software for sole traders, and MTD software that handles foreign property.
What happens next?
HMRC has committed to a further update by the end of September 2026, and has been specific that it will cover two things the 10 August notice deliberately left open: software supporting end-of-year obligations for 2026-27, and software intended for future tax years.
Both matter more than the quarterly update question that has just been closed.
End-of-year obligations are exactly where the current field is weakest. The final declaration for 2026-27 falls on 31 January 2028, and 70% of listed products cannot complete a single item of it today. If HMRC's September guidance opens a route for end-of-year software specifically, the gap between "files your quarters" and "finishes your return" is the gap it would be closing.
Future tax years matter because the MTD threshold keeps dropping. Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £30,000 join in April 2027, and over £20,000 in April 2028, which brings in far more people than the current £50,000 cohort. A controlled access model designed now will decide who is allowed to serve them. You can see the full schedule in our guide to MTD deadlines from 2026 to 2028.
For now, the honest summary is this. The shelf for 2026-27 is essentially the shelf you see today, most of it can only do half the job, and HMRC has told everyone to wait until the end of September to find out what the rules for the rest of it will be.
Where does TapTax sit in this?
We build TapTax, so the disclosure belongs here rather than buried.
TapTax is not on HMRC's directory. We are MTD-compatible software built directly on HMRC's Making Tax Digital APIs, and our production access application went in before the 7 August cut-off, so it sits in the pipeline HMRC has said will continue through the current process. That is where it stands today, and we will not describe it as anything more than that until HMRC says otherwise.
We publish the directory dataset because we think the field deserves to be visible whether or not we are on it, and the analysis puts us mid-pack on return items rather than at the top. The full dataset is there to be checked.
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